What is it? Athlete's foot is a fungal infection. It can lead to intense itching, cracked, blistered or peeling areas of skin, redness and scaling. It can occur on

moist, waterlogged skin especially between the fourth and fifth toes, or on dry, flaky skin around the heels or elsewhere on the foot. What causes athlete's foot,

it is caused by a number of fungal species which you can pick up from anywhere (typically communal areas such as pools, showers and changing rooms) or

anywhere you may walk around barefooted,'' the fungus on each bit of skin that falls away from someone else's feet can be picked up by you if you prone

'' (Berkow 1987)

Once your feet have been contaminated, the warm, dark and sweaty environment of feet cramped in shoes or trainers provides the ideal breeding ground

for fungus. Athlete's foot also occurs in dry, flaky areas. It's quite common in summer sandal-wearers. The sun makes your skin dry out, so it loses its natural

protective oils: this combined with the constant trauma from sandals makes them more prone to infection. A common question is, who gets it ? Well, it's not

called athlete's foot for nothing.Walking barefoot around swimming pools and spending your life in trainers make you more likely to suffer, but obviously, you

don't need to be an athlete to suffer. (Qureshi 2007)

Is Athlete's foot serious? ''if left untreated, the fungus can spread to the toe nails, causing thickening and yellowing of the nail, which is much harder to treat,

’ fungal infections are highly contagious and can spread to anywhere on your skin-to your scalp, hands and even your groin, especially if you use the same

towel for your feet as for the rest of your body.'' (Qureshi 2007)